It is known in the art to provide a display apparatus which employs magnetic forces to levitate a magnetically charged object to give the illusion of free flight. One such example display apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,707 (Littlefield), wherein a first base magnet is polarized, having a uniform polarity along an upper surface, to magnetically repulse a second magnetically charged object, such as a golf ball, model airplane, football, or like novelty item. The magnetic material associated with the object is polarized so that like pole surfaces of both the base magnet and the object magnet are faced together to simulate a stable condition of free flight of the object. A tether or a like restraining means is used to anchor the object to prevent the opposing magnetic forces from becoming unbalanced, thus causing the object to fall or crash. The display features of this apparatus are limited to a static display condition and an oscillatory condition of limited duration due to the existence of magnetic friction forces and tether induced friction forces. Only slight movement of the object through vibration may be experienced.
Another example of a levitation device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,245 (Harrigan) wherein a magnetized top assembly is levitated over a concave upward base magnet of opposite polarity. The top assembly may be rotated about its vertical axis and maintained in a levitated state for time periods up to 5 minutes before it ceases to rotate further and crashes to the ground.
Accordingly, there is a need for a novel magnetically levitated display apparatus, which in addition to simulation of free flight, also demonstrates the scientific principles of magnetism, momentum of rotational inertia, frictional forces, and the effects of natural harmonic frequencies on the levitated object.
There is also a need for a magnetically levitated display apparatus which may oscillate or undergo rotation in a near frictionless condition for prolonged periods of time.